Wine makers in northern California are assessing damage to their properties, though for one Park City-based vintner, their fruit was processed before the fires started.
"There’s a lot of people who are still harvesting grapes and part of the problem is, of course with the road closures, they can’t get the farm workers in," says Mac MacQuoid, a partner with Parallel Wines. "We were very fortunate, we completed our harvest."
He says one of the toughest decisions in a normal season is timing the harvest, so there’s no predicting what vintages will be like for those grapes being picked after the fires. And, the competition for high quality grapes is fierce.
"The demand for grapes is much higher than the supply of grapes, especially in the last few years where we’ve had wonderful crops and the economy’s been strong, there’s a competition to acquire those."
As with other vintners, partners in Parallel Wines say the best way to help the economy—a $110 billion dollar one—is to purchase wines from Sonoma and Napa valleys, and visit the region.
Steve Chin, a co-owner of Parallel Wines, is a member of KUER’s advisory board.